MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm – Operational Command and Control of Multinational Missions and Exercises

The MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm is capable of assuming command and control of an EUEuropean Union mission at the military-strategic level, even at short notice. This does not only include the provision of headquarters and planning capacities, but also the necessary infrastructure as well as ITInformationstechnik and CISCommunication and Information Systems support elements. Moreover, the MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm can act as a “Joint Logistics Support Group Headquarters”, and provide – down to the tactical level – mobile logistic capacities in support of task forces. 

The MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm provides EUEuropean Union member countries with all these capabilities in the context of the European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDPCommon Security and Defence Policy ). In view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and calls by the U.S. administration for Europe to become more self-sufficient in terms of security policy, the MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm serves as a building block to strengthen Europe’s efforts to better provide for its own security. In March 2025, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, summed up this European ambition as follows:

Prepare for the worst to defend peace in Europe.

With this is mind, the MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm is becoming more important, as it provides crucial military capabilities that are necessary to ensure Europe’s “coming of age” in security terms.

Ensuring cooperation with JSECJoint Support and Enabling Command, the NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization command based in Ulm, is an ongoing MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm task. The MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm provides headquarters and planning capacities to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of support forces in multinational missions. In the past, it has provided support for the NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization Response Force and NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTFVery High Readiness Joint Task Force ). In the future, it will also provide support to the Allied Reaction Force (ARF), which was established in June 2024, and, on a permanent basis, to JSECJoint Support and Enabling Command. 

The MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm has developed a unique wealth of expertise in exercising command and control of joint and combined EUEuropean Union and NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization operations and exercises. Its certification as a NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization Joint Task Force Headquarters in 2018 was an important milestone in this development. At present, servicemen and women from eight countries are serving at the MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm, making it a unique asset in the Bundeswehr while furthering the Bundeswehr’s integration into NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization and the EUEuropean Union.

The Commander of the MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm, Lieutenant General Kai Rohrschneider, exercises command and control over military personnel from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Luxembourg, Finland and Hungary, among other countries. With its planning capabilities, training and exercise capacities and military intelligence capabilities, the Operations Directorate is at the heart of the MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm. This extensive remit enables the MN JHQMultinational Joint Headquarters Ulm to flexibly respond to different operational scenarios and to optimise cooperation between the countries involved, which is crucial for the successful conduct of multinational missions.